Security, Safety & Consent, Workshops

University College by Nephron on Wikimedia Commons

“People are more important than larps.”
– Johanna Koljonen

The above may seem obvious but sometimes in live-action events, rules, characters, or story can take primary importance over players. At Nelly’s By Night, people are more important than the event, and the following are the steps we have and will take to ensure a safer one:

Security

The house ‘doorman’ at Nelly’s will provide in-character and out-of-character security. While there are other characters who provide security in the house and in the city, the doorman will be the only one who provides that function out-of-character as well. We are working with someone who is an experienced actor, longtime larper, and who has worked as club and event security around the city for 20+ years. As the role is in and out-of-character, addressing the doorman privately will not seem unusual for any character. However, if you would prefer a mediator, you can speak to or text one of the organizers. (We will provide an emergency text number before the event.) We have full trust in our doorman to handle any situation, if one should arise.

Safety and Consent

We will use safety mechanics and meta-techniques that owe much to larps that use the Opt-In/Opt-Out Design principles discussed extensively and developed by Johanna Koljonen. You can take a look at some of what we use in our current events on the Night Watch Toronto page, though some of the mechanics may be different at Nelly’s By Night.

The consent negotiations we will use have been developed and used successfully in events like End of the Line, New World Magischola, and Convention of Thorns – two of those Vampire: The Masquerade events. The basic tenet of consent-based play is no one can do anything to your character without your consent. Discipline use, feeding, intimacy, and other interactions require negotiation.

As stated on the ticket page, a list of attendees will be sent to the venue and to participants for safety and security purposes. If any participant has a concern about another, they have the opportunity to flag the person to the organizers at that time. These concerns will remain entirely confidential. As also stated on the ticket page, we have the right to refuse admission. Up to 30 days before the event, a full refund will be given.

Our venue is a special place filled with personal items and also a home. For your safety and that of the space, no running or physical confrontations will be permitted. Please treat the venue as you would if you were a guest in someone’s home. (In-character, Nelly’s is an Elysium, so violence is frowned upon and generally means banishment.)

No physical or supernatural torture or sexual assault are permitted in this game. Non-consensual supernatural mind manipulation is not allowed unless requested by the recipient, i.e. “It would be interesting if your character tried to read my mind in this scene” or “I relent to your character manipulating my emotions in this scene.” We will limit intimacy scenes (feeding or romantic) to the second floor of the venue.

We want a harassment-free experience for all participants. We do not tolerate harassment in any form. Players asked to stop any harassing behaviour are expected to comply immediately.

We will have an out-of-character space where you will be able to take a break, chat out-of-character, speak to an organizer, and have some food, water, or a drink. If you need a few moments away from roleplay, or would like some out-of-character chat and a breather, please find this space. We will make the location clear at the beginning of the event.

Workshops

We understand the demands of work, parenting, chronic illnesses, and travel can limit the time that many can commit to an event. At the same time, we believe strongly in the importance of workshops to the experience and to safety. To try to resolve this, we’ll be trying something new – we will hold workshops in two parts: online and onsite.

To make safety mechanics and consent negotiation techniques as available as possible, we will schedule two streaming sessions before the event – one in late December and one in early January – where questions can be asked live. These sessions will cover the same topics. We will post both sessions for review, and will provide the information in text on the blog as well. All participants are expected to review these workshop materials before the event.  Onsite workshops will concentrate on group, relationship, and character building exercises, though we will recap safety and consent mechanics and information briefly.

We hope this will provide multiple ways to understand key information and allow participants to feel more confident about safety basics before the evening of the event. We are available for questions before the event, and there will be an organizer available in the out-of-character space during the event.

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